Blog Post

I’ve been squeezing as much time as I can out of my busy day to work on Empire. The beginning is as perfect as I can make it. The rest is too.

That’s not to say I’m not still tinkering. I don’t know if I could ever call a book done. I have a feeling (if I end up selling it) my agent and editor will have to pry it out of my hands. I’m at that point where things feel balanced. I have new CPs, but it’s all down to little details that could hurt the pace/overall story just as much as they could help it. I’ve worked on some additional things to add at the end, but don’t know that I want to make the ending longer than it already is.

Does everything have to be answered in a book? I know life isn’t like that.

You do get the see the most important stuff play out. To me, the book is all about Paul. Sure, it’d be nice to see these scenes, but it isn’t necessary.

Maybe it is. I truly don’t know.

I’m at the point where I want someone who really knows what they’re doing to say, “Hey, I love this, but work on this.” Until then, I’m afraid to add extra scenes.

I’ve gotten an R&R from one agent already. I’ve also sent out queries to a few others. I have faith in the story. It could be something special.

I spent every second I had this summer re-writing Empire. I’m extremely happy with it now. It’s not quite perfect, but it’s getting closer.

Part of the issue I’m having is structural. I have to introduce a lot at the beginning. Not because I love exposition– I actually am not a fan of novels that take a long time to get going– but out of necessity. I’m a bit stuck, because all of the pieces I have need to be there.

What I don’t want is a book where people say, “It gets amazing half way through.” And that’s where it is now.

It’s not that the beginning is bad. I still think it’s good. I think working on mixing character info with dialog will help (I got that one thanks to an astute reader), but there are some things I need fresh eyes on- from someone that will make it through the whole book to see why things are where they are.

That’s one of the big reasons why I want an editorial agent. I simply don’t have the extra funds right now to pay for editing. I don’t need line edits for grammar- I need structural plot notes.

I’ve gone ahead and queried a few agents. I actually got a full request from my first query ever… but also got a rejection based upon that full (the rejection was actually a great read- very complimentary. It’ll make me a better writer). I am pretty sure that agent didn’t get through the whole book– which isn’t her fault. It’s mine!

If people feel like the beginning of a novel is work, a lot will tune out.

That’s the rub with my manuscript, and it’s a problem I don’t quite know how to fix on my own.

I’m going to look for more critique partners and keep looking at things myself. I’m confident in everything from the middle to the end. But the opening chapters are the MOST important.

I hope to find someone who has the desire to help me get this novel up to where it could be. Because it could be absolutely amazing, not just pretty good.

I hate saying that. It sounds egotistical. But it’s true. I’m not an overly confident person. If anything, I’m more likely to think bad things about myself- but this novel is already more than I would have ever thought I’d be capable of producing.

No, this isn’t a blog post on the ins and outs of writing a novel and publishing it. This is, however, a post on preparing yourself to attempt writing a novel and setting yourself up with a story you can actually write about until completing. I will post more on the process of writing and publishing as I complete the necessary steps, but those will come in time. Full disclosure- I am not an authority on writing. I do teach Literature to middle school students and I have written both professionally and unprofessionally. I am far from the perfect writer, and the first tip I would give you is to stop trying to be the perfect writer.

More than likely you will reach a point in writing your novel in which you look back at what you have written and see all the bits that are complete and utter crap. Stop worrying about this! As I progress in the editing process, I am amazed to find the ways I can improve things that were once crap into truly beautiful writing. I also have some sections that are just OK. Hopefully I can find a way to make the whole text sing, but I have read numerous books by authors with a million times the skill I possess that have weak sections in their works. If you try to make the whole thing perfect, you will probably drive yourself nuts. Keep going back until you get is as well-written as you can possibly make it. Just don’t expect that perfect prose to spill out the very first time you type a bit of explication into your word processor.

The second tip I can provide is to write as many story treatments as possible. I have a nice collection of over twenty story ideas- many of which will probably never see the light of day. Some are as simple as a title or short description of a concept. One of my notes simply says, “Planet Orphan”. I know what that means and where that story could possibly go, but things change as you work on them. Let me show you an example of one of my awful story ideas that I won’t delete, but is way far back in my list of potential follow-up works.

Struggling journalist stops to help handicapped homeless vet while pursuing a bs story he hates. Begins talking to him, asking his story. Gives up and bitches about his job. Homeless guy starts to tell him story. He writes a very popular article about it. Gets to be more in demand. The whole story ends up being a lie.

How about this nugget of poop?

Suicidal

Benny tries to commit suicide using his bumbling father’s pills. He lives, then has to suffer the humiliation of everyone knowing he tried to off himself.

He did it because a girl he had a crush on for years has drama, his friends lives are screwed up, and he doesn’t have the motivation to do well in school despite the pressure his parents put on him.

He tries again by jumping off the school roof. He survives. Learns stuff.

More than likely neither of these are going to see the light of day. Still, the inspiration hit and maybe it will on these concepts again. But, seriously, learns stuff? If your best idea for a source of conflict is that the guy needs to learn stuff, please don’t work on the story more until you know what that stuff is!

My next tip is to flesh out a small section or sample chapter of your potential ideas. Try to write in the voice and tone of what you want the story to be. If it starts to drastically change as you write it, then you might want to sit down and work on an outline or more complete story treatment.

Here is one that I really like and want to return to one day.

Stella grasped out for Remmy’s hand, but his hand was slippery from holding the heavy leather bag she felt his fingers slipping from her own. She tried to grip tighter, but the change squeezed his hand farther down her grip instead. She looked at the city below. People were walking, talking, eating, and just plain loitering about, oblivious to the deadly struggle taking place fifteen stories above.

She looked back to him and their eyes met. His neck was strained red and that vein she used to make such fun of him about stuck out even farther than she had ever seen it before. She’d have to rib him good about that one once they got back to the commune, she was thinking to herself as she reached down to grab him with the other hand.

Their situation was bad, yes, but not as bad as chasing two bulls away from the cows when they were in heat. It also wasn’t as bad as the bandits that had come to loot the year before. They had guns, while the commune only had their old wooden farming equipment. That had required brains and luck. This situation only required on thing.

“Remmy, DROP THE STUPID BAG!” she screamed at him.

He had to take a deep breath before he could speak because the pull of his legs expanded his body so much that his diaphragm was being pressed on.

“No!” was all he could manage to spit out even after all that.

“Remmy, quit being a putz and drop it! It isn’t that important. We can get more stuff and still get back before dark!”

She was surprised to hear the plea in her voice. She knew it would be alright. It always was.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she felt Remmy push the bag into her hand and let go.

She watched him fall.

Down he went.

Until.

He was gone.

She pulled herself back from the edge before he hit, but she heard the sounds of it and began to retch.

You may see more of this one in the future, but you may not. Why? This leads me to my third suggestion- Don’t try to write something with such a huge scale that it is unwieldy. Sure, you could try writing your five-book Harry Potterish series, but you have no guarantee that people will catch on to your magic sauce. An epic story is a major investment in a reader’s time. Try to limit your scope to something manageable. At least for your first novel.

I have a huge series based on the life of Alexander the Great and the library of Alexandria that I would love to write one day. But now isn’t the time. It’s too ambitious and nebulous at the moment, and I would rather wait until I have a (probably meager) following of readers before I even think of attempting it.

Now, that last one may not apply to you if that is where your inspiration is and if you have the dedication to see an epic story through. Still, a work with a limited amount of characters will make you more likely to actually write something you can finish and work on editing to perfection.

One of the hardest bits is actually getting yourself to do the damn writing, so set goals. If you have a two week vacation from work, then set a two or three chapter goal for that time period. The more you can find ways to force yourself to write, the more chances you have of actually getting something written. Telling yourself that you will do it one day is the procrastinator’s way to delay actually doing the damn writing.

Again, I am far from an expert. I will also probably end up publishing a novel that is a relatively minor blip in the annuls of writing history. It may even be completely ignored. Still, if I could empower anyone else to take some of these steps and at least attempt to write, then I have done a great thing.

Writing Empire, Nevada has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Some things changed a lot from when I started it. Some things disappeared completely. More will improve as I prepare to publish. I’m not saying you can write a first novel and earn millions of dollars off of it. As a matter of fact, my last piece of advice is to not expect to make a ton of money off of your writing. One of the things that truly scares me about self-publishing is that I don’t want to turn into a huckster spamming Twitter with links to my book. I am writing this because I have always wanted to write a novel. Everything else beyond that is icing on the cake. My initial goal is to make $2,000 off of Empire. Something tells me that is doable, but I refuse to let myself get any ego in all of this. There are much more talented writers than myself. I truly believe that I would be doing it wrong if I went into this expecting to retire from teaching and live in the lap of luxury. Besides, I love teaching and hope to find a way to both write and teach.

I hope these tips help you a bit. Please let me know if you have any tricks you use to write- Especially if you have managed to write your epic series and not let the scale of the endeavor have you puking in fear.

I will post more soon, but not so soon that it keeps me from actually getting the damn work done!

I know I haven’t posted here in a loooooonnnggg time. It’s pretty hard work trying to teach a new subject at a new school. Editing a novel on top of that was simply impossible for a while. This is my formal observation year, so teaching has to be priority number one.

The good news? Things have finally leveled off and Empire is coming along nicely! More than nicely, actually. I would have to say I am pretty darn proud of it so far.

I am working on getting it ready in time to try for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for 2013. I highly doubt I will. I have to be ready for it to come out and be a total bust. I mean, the publishing world is crazy right now and I can’t afford to promote it like many authors do- I don’t have the money or the time. Hell- I don’t even have the time to edit these posts like I should. That time has to go to editing the book, or working on lesson plans, or grading, or taking care of my family… you get the idea.

I will share one part of what I am working on here, though. I have to prepare a “lead” to enter in the contest. That is a short summary of the story- like what you find on the back of a book. I have a few that are rough, but will post on the bottom of this.

The librarian at school is going to let me post my favorite ones in the library for students to vote on! I will be very interested to see what they say. They all seem very interested in the book, but I think that’s mainly because they like me a lot. Whatever! I’ll take it!

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Have you ever tried to imagine what it would be like to lose your home, your friends, and everything you think you knew?

Paul Simpkins faces this reality after his hometown gets shut down by the mining company that owns it. He then has to move to a new town, try to make new friends, and try to not get killed by the bully that has hounded him his entire life.

Paul decides to run away after the girl he likes disappears and he faces a major embarrassment in front of the whole school. He gathers up his old crew of friends and they set out to save Empire, Nevada.

——-

Paul Simpkins thinks everything is going great. He has good friends, he loves his hometown, and he loves being a normal teenager- even if he can get a little awkward when he talks to girls. But then disaster strikes. The company that owns basically everything in his town announces they are halting all operations there, so Paul and all of his friends are going to have to move.

______

When his family moves to Reno, Paul finds himself friendless, unpopular, and unwanted at his new school. Even worse than that, Paul’s nemesis, Donnie Watson, has moved to Reno as well, and is making Paul’s life miserable. Even the smallest chance of a relationship with a real live girl isn’t enough to save Paul from a disastrous year.

After a major embarrassment, Paul decides to run away and reassemble his old group of friends to attempt to save Empire.

Will Paul be successful, or is he just a doomed as his hometown? Find out in Empire, Nevada.

_________

Economic collapse, mass eviction, and a once thriving city turned into a ghost town. This might all sound like something out of science fiction, but it was reality for the residents of Empire, Nevada in 2011. Paul Simpkins is trying to come to grips with the realities of life in this tumultuous setting. He’s a chubby kid with a small, but tight-knit group of friends. He loves his hometown, but has to watch helplessly as almost everyone moves away. Except Donnie Watson, that is. A preternatural bully- Donnie has been the thorn in Paul’s side since they were infants. From name-calling to physical abuse- nothing vile is off-limits to this reprehensible character.

Things only get worse after Paul moves. Both his and Donnie’s fathers are lawyers for Michelette Mining, the company that owns Empire, and both families end up moving to Reno so that they can work at the company’s headquarters.

Even the small glimmer of a chance of a relationship with a real live girl isn’t enough to save Paul’s junior year of high school. After near-endless harassment, social seclusion, and one major embarrassment, Paul decides to reassemble his old crew of friends and run away to try to save Empire.

Can Paul resuscitate the corpse of the city he loves, or is Empire, Nevada doomed to be a ghost town forever? Find out in this absorbing new novel.

I love being a teacher. Being a middle school teacher is an especially wonderful thing. Let’s face it- middle school stinks. It’s an awkward time for everyone. Guiding children through middle school, however, is a wonderful thing.We all have disastrous memories of some part of our middle school experience. Maybe you experienced truly struggling to learn a subject for the first time. You might have had a rough time with relationships. You most definitely had some strange and terrifying things happening in your body. You probably got embarrassed by something you did. Maybe you even got embarrassed by the actions of others. You may have even gotten picked on at some point.I know it was a hard time for me. I felt torn between a million different versions of myself. I wanted to be the independent artist, but I also wanted to be the popular jock. I wanted to get the girls to like me, but I had the suavity of a wallflower. There were so many options, and all came with an opposite and equal reaction.If I concentrated on being a rocker, then I lost the opportunity to be a part of the “normal” kids. If I chose to be an artist, then I had to go down that path to the detriment of other interests. Nothing was an easy choice.

I managed to become a dabbler; a chameleon. I tried to put my fingers in as many pies as possible. It served me well in the end, but made me feel like a didn’t have as much of a place as some people. I was in some weird outsider/insider zone. I had no defining characteristic. I never felt stuck, but I did feel overwhelmed.

Paul, the main character of Empire, is stuck. He feels like he can’t do anything about the situation he’s in. His town is being shut down. His dad seems to care more about everyone else other than him. His mom seems more concerned with what clothes to wear instead of where they’ll be living when Empire shuts down. He feels his relationship with his friends growing more distant. In many ways Paul is an ordinary middle schooler in an extraordinary situation.

I’ve learned a lot about myself through teaching. I’ve also learned a lot about middle schoolers. They are infuriating, brutally honest, easy to admire and sympathize with, and they deserve a lot more credit than they get from most people just for making it through this hellish time.

I hope my book captures all of this. It is very much about the specific situation the residents of Empire, Nevada must have gone through in the last few years. But, more importantly, it is also about what everyone goes through in their adolescence. Paul is in an extreme situation, but he also goes through many things we all have to during this phase of our lives. He is utterly sympathetic, but also infuriating in his refusal to cope with his situation and take ownership of what he can do to make things better. I think everyone can relate to this, and I hope people enjoy reading it once it is completed and published.

There are many types of death for a character in a literary work, but by far the worst is where the cease to exist completely. I have had to provide that most depressing of deaths for a few characters over the last week. While they were all good people who I liked, they were either redundant, did not fit the tone of the rest of the story, or were simply holding the pacing back.

One survives in a sense. I gave his words to another character. He still impacts the story in a way, but now he does so without adding unnecessary characterization.

I love giving my characters… character. They are part of the biggest joy I get while writing. I know everything (or at least a lot) about them. I see them very clearly and want them to live a strong and productive life. Sadly, this isn’t always possible.

The most glorious death for a character is when they die on the page. That is a death that will be remembered and mourned (if the writer has any skill and feels any sympathy for the people they create). I have provided that for one as well. It haunts me to this day, but also gives me a certain peaceful feeling.

I know that readers will feel the impact of his loss. Even though he only exists alive for a few short pages in the text, his loss is felt throughout the entire (planned) story. I call it planned because I have only written one chapter. The rest is planned, and it is good.

I also finally began the process of editing Empire.

Seeing the words I wrote weeks ago getting improved is extremely rewarding. What was there is OK, but it will get better. Much better.

I will try to provide more updates here as things move forward. I am also going to work on a site for my overall writing, not just Empire. Once I have something I am happy with, that will become the main site I post from. I will also provide links here, so that anyone checking back will know there is new content and where to go to get it.

Please, post a comment or send me a message as you drop by the site. I would love to know who my potential readers are.

Yes, I know you haven’t seen a ton posted here lately. I just want to assure you that things are moving forward. School starts tomorrow, so I have had to wade back into my day job as a middle school teacher. I am getting ready to start editing Empire, I am just waiting for two more beta readers to get back to me. If I don’t hear from them by the end of the week, I will call them to see where they are.

I am very excited about the changes I will be making. Every one of them should serve the story well. I’m also deep into planning my second book- The Light of Silver and Gold. It is going to be pretty different from Empire, and so far the story is some of my best work. I will post the first part of it here soon. I just have to kill one character first. I love the guy, he just doesn’t fit in the story like he should.

Hey, sometimes authors have to kill the characters they love. He may come back in other works, but he would have taken too much from the main character in Light.